To consider a report of the Cheshire and
Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report on a
Substantial Development or Variation in Service relating to
reconfiguring services in Central and East Cheshire. The reconfiguration was part of efficiencies to
enable services to be provided in the most cost efficient way with
no reduction in service to users and carers. The proposals were not finalised but were likely
to involve reconfiguration of beds in Central and Eastern Cheshire
and Wirral. However consultation would
involve the whole area as any proposals would need to be considered
across the whole of the Trust’s patch.

At this stage the proposals involved providing
a separate ward on Wirral for service users with eating disorders
by taking those adult beds out of Croft Ward on
Macclesfield. Currently Croft Ward had
beds both for adults with eating disorders and older people with a
functional mental illness, this mix was
against best practice. Removing the
eating disorder beds would mean Croft Ward would not be
viable. There were two other small
bedded wards for older patients with organic illness. This provision of three older people’s wards
across two sites meant there was little joint learning and
development across older people’s wards. It was proposed to manage all older people’s
services in Central/East Cheshire in Crewe using two ground floor
wards. This would enable the provision
of better accommodation and ensure that staff
with specialist skills were co-located.

Three adult wards were proposed in Central and
East Cheshire – one in Crewe and two in Macclesfield.
The total number of beds in Central and
East would be 84.

Alongside the reconfiguration, a new model of
care was to be introduced called the Acute Care Model. This model allocated one consultant to manage all
inpatients, with other consultants concentrating on the majority of
service users who lived in the community. This would enable inpatients to see the consultant
on a daily basis and benefit from increased access to senior
clinical staff. This model was already
in operation in Wirral and West Cheshire and service users and
carers were pleased with the increased availability of a consultant
psychiatrist.

It was proposed that the changes be consulted
on alongside proposals relating to inpatient reconfiguration in
Central and Eastern Cheshire and would include four public
meetings.

RESOLVED: That the
consultation process be endorsed and the
proposals supported.